Between smoke and metal hearts
by loosingletters
Summary: In a world of metal limbs, cyborgs, robotic enhancements, Artificial Intelligence and golems, Perseus is the place you should go to if you want something done. If you can deal with a crazy mechanic, a red haired scientist and a golem who will bite you. Oh, but they will only help you if you're interesting enough - or can pay with the highly coveted Inno-essence. Steampunk AU!
1. Chapter 1

**My Steampunk AU I talked about like half a year ago and finally decided to actually write.**  
 **Nea and Allen are about 22ish or so.**

"Is that my arm?!" Nea screeched and pointed at the metal arm poking out of Allen's backpack.

"Technically it's mine," Allen replied and pulled the arm out of his bag to lay it on the work table in front of his partner in crime. Various colorful wires were sticking out of the artificial limb and it looked like engine oil was running out of it too from god knows where. Never mind that all the important joints were broken and most of the metal plates either ripped off, exposing the complicated technology beneath it, or melted off.

"What did you do with it?!" Nea appeared to be just a few breaths away from fainting in horror.

"Fought against the Earl's latest robots. They got a bit meaner," Allen explained calmly as he searched through the drawers for some fresh bandages and pain killers. His ribs had suffered a lot from the Akuma attacks and the red haired man hoped they weren't broken. Going to a doctor was too expensive as they were close to being broke because they had spent all their money on new equipment, like _always_. "Since the arm was lighter than the previous one but not nearly as durable, it broke."

"My greatest work, Allen! And you ruined it!" Nea kept complaining while inspecting the broken prosthetic. He had put so much work into building one that would ease Allen's shoulder pain and _this_ was what the other man returned with. At times like this Nea was sure Allen didn't appreciate his work at all, otherwise the man would be much more careful.

"If that's your greatest work, I worry for Timcampy's life- Ouch! What the hell?!"

Allen shot Nea a betrayed look while rubbing the back of his head where Nea had hit him with the prosthetic.

"What did you do that for?" Allen complained.

"That was for ruining my work! Please tell me the Inno-essence at least is still in there somewhere."

Nea stared at Allen in anticipation, only to be disappointed when Allen shook his head.

"No, sorry. I would have lost it if I did that but-"

"What did you do then?" Nea hissed.

He loved Allen, he really did, but right this moment he very much wanted to punch his friend for losing the only thing that gave them a slight advantage over their enemies.

When had his dear friend become so reckless and careless? Allen used to be such a cautious, if slightly more bratty, person.

"I drank it."

"WHAT!?" Nea shouted. "Are you mad? That could have killed you- probably is killing you. We've got to get you to a doctor before you start collapsing. Fuck, this is the exact reason why-"

"Nea," Allen interrupted him, unusually calm. "It's fine."

"'It's fine'? Nothing's fine! You will die! Direct exposure to Inno-essance is lethal!"

He'd seen often enough what the green element could do to people who couldn't stand its concentration. First their bodies would decay, then their minds would descend into madness. Given that they wouldn't die the moment the Inno-essence would reach their bloodstream.

"I guess that's true in some cases," Allen replied shrugging. "But I'm fine. Actually, I've never felt as well as I do now."

Nea stared at his friend for a long while, trying to figure out if Allen was lying. Allen was a good actor but even he had a few tells. None of which Nea could see out now. It appeared that Allen was actually speaking the truth, no matter how farfetched it sounded.

"So, Inno-essence immunity," Nea finally gave in and collapsed on the chair in exhaustion, his frustration having drained him.

Allen smiled, a little crooked, a bit tired, familiar enough for Nea to force his panic to the back of his mind.

"Alright," he sighed. "But tomorrow you're gonna go to Narain and get checked up. If you feel even just a bit dizzy, I'm locking you up until we know what's going on."

Allen rolled his eyes. Nea was acting overly protective again, his golden eyes unusually wide and full of fear.

It wasn't like Allen hadn't been aware of what consequences his actions would probably bring. Letting his Inno-essence, and it had been _his_ ever since it cost him his home, fall into the hands of the Akuma hadn't been an option. He'd rather die than let it come so far. But death hadn't claimed him yet, and hopefully wouldn't in the future. Sure, the first few moments after drinking the Inno-essence he'd felt horrible, probably even puked, he couldn't quite remember, his memories were fuzzy at best, nonexistent at worse, but afterwards his condition had bettered. And if Allen was honest, it kept getting better. His fatigue wasn't as heavy as it had been just a few hours ago and the phantom pains of his left arm had never been so dull.

Allen felt _healthy_.

Besides, even if his condition would worsen again, what would Narain be able to do? While Narain was the closest thing to a good and affordable doctor this part of town had, he didn't possess the knowledge necessarily for dealing with essence ingestion. Not that Allen or even Nea knew enough about it to be able to treat it in case it got out of control.

The only one with that knowledge… Allen shook his head. It wasn't an option.

"I'm fine," he told Nea again. He simply had to be, there was no other way.

"That's what you always say."

And Allen only ever lied about that 80% of the time which, for the time being, made it a quite acceptable rate.

 **Thanks for reading!**  
 **I'd love to hear what you think and what other character's you'd like to see in this AU.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Cross, his digital wife and reprogrammed daughter.**

Cross Marian lived a life without regrets. He avoided everything he deemed unworthy of his presence and indulged in every pleasure he could find. Life was too short and too full of bullshit for regrets.

So how the hell had he ended up with the most annoying AI of all, who only gave him a headache?

"Good morning, Cross!" She greeted him from his PAD. "It's 9:00 am on the 24th of July and today the weather will be as splendid as yesterday! You have 78 unread messages and 467 unanswered messages from the Black Order-"

" _Maria_ ," Cross drawled and slowly sat up in his bed, his red hair inelegantly sticking up in every direction. "Do you have to do this every morning?"

"It is my job, in case you forgot," she immediately replied. "You programmed me this way. If it bothers you that much, kick it out of my protocols. But otherwise shut up and don't complain."

Cross groaned but didn't do anything else, so Maria continued. "And one unread message from a Nea Walker."

"Who is that?" Cross asked as he got up and started to get himself ready for the day. If he missed his flight later on, he'd be late and Anita would be angry and blow his inbox up which in turn would make Maria delightful. He didn't need that kind of stress in his life thank you very much.

"Nea Walker, 22 years old, a mechanic working in a small city close to London. No family, orphaned - though his background seems a little fake to me. It would be worth letting Chomesuke take a closer look at it."

"Chomesuke?" He called, knowing the other AI would already be working on it.

"On it, boss," Chomesuke also quipped up from the PAD.

"Good girl," he replied.

Chomesuke was a fairly new AI he had reprogrammed. Maria was busy enough running his life and it had been easier to work on an infiltration AI he had snapped away from the Earl than to try to teach Maria new skills. Besides, Maria had never been subtle. She had always been loud and visible, from the way she dresses to the way she had sung in the streets or on stages. He hadn't wanted to change that.

"May I continue?"

He nodded and Maria picked up speaking once again.

"Walker is specialized in prosthetics, golems and technical enhancements. But his shop _Perseus_ also works with AIs, though that seems to be more the work of his colleague and boyfriend- excuse me, husband of two days. There is a _somewhat_ legal marriage contract."

"So an all rounder, huh. Name of the husband?"

"Allen Walker. 22 years old-"

"Picture!" Cross ordered before Maria could continue, his voice sharp enough to cut. For a moment nothing happened, as if Maria were startled by his sudden harshness. But then a picture loaded on his PAD, showing two men, a blonde girl- no, robot, and a little boy.

Allen was surprisingly easy for Cross to pick out, even though his appearance had changed a lot from the last time Cross had kept tabs on him.

His hair was stark white now, just like fallen snow, instead of the usual red-brown color. It only made his red scar stand out even more. But surprisingly Allen had grown his hair out too. It was long enough now that he had pulled it back in a ponytail, which reached a little past his shoulders.

And his left arm, usually sporting either no or a bad prosthetic, was now brought into existence again as a shiny black one, proudly shown off by the sleeveless shirt he was wearing. And Allen was wearing big round glasses of all things, as if his appearance wasn't ridiculous enough already.

At least he looked healthy, that was a new one too.

"What the _hell_ happened to him? Chomesuke, prioritize Allen in your search and get started on this Nea guy afterwards. Maria, I want to know who the other brats on this photo are."

"Will be done!" Maria replied. "And you should really leave the hotel now or you'll miss your flight. I don't want to book a new one for you again."

"Sure, sure," Cross replied to Maria's nagging, still focused on the photo. That Nea guy, his face was familiar, he was sure he had seen it before.

"Boss-"

"Not now, Chomesuke," Cross replied before coming to a standstill. "Wait. I take that back. Prioritize Nea again and get out the files about the Noah, especially everything we have about the Earl."

"Don't overtax her like that, Cross," Maria chastised him but all Cross could think was that his past had came back to haunt him in the most unpleasant way possible.

Regrets really were a pain.

 **Grave of Maria and Chomesuke are both AI here! So, this is Cross. Still on the run from the Order and doing whatever he feels like doing.**

 **Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!**


End file.
